Improvement in meat-choppers



2 Sheets--Sheet l.

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TME GRAHUCCO. FHDYO-LITl-LBSI- 4l PARK FLACEILY.

' Mat-Ghopp ers;

2 Sheets--Sheet 2. D. PETERS.

Patented Aug.1,874.

l base-ring in elevation.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL PETERS, or BURLINGTON, IowA, AssIeNoE To HIMsELF AND MURRAY IRON -WORKS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MEAT-CHOPPERS.l

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,078, 11 January 17, 1874.

Y ings .making part of this specitcation, in

Figure l is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the lower-portion of my meat-chopper. Fig. 2 is a plan View ot' the whole machine. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section .through the center of the machine. Fig. etfis a section through a portion of the basering and step -box -of the wormwheel shaft, and showing the worm-wheel shaft and a portion of the worm-shaft in elevation. Fig. 5 is. a horizontal section of the worm-wheel shaft, and .showing the step-box and a portion ofthe My improvements relate to the machine for chopping meat patented by me on the 13th day of February, 1872, and the same will be better understood by describing them inconnection with said machine, which machine, as improved, is the one shown in the accompanying drawings.

The rst improvement which I will describe vrelates to a certain construction of the supporting and raising and lowering devices of the meat-cylinder A and its bottom, which forms the wood chopping-bed A1 thereof'.

My plannow is to t loosely, within the base-ring B, a spider with three radial arms Y anda hub, the latter extending up in form of a center-pin, and serving as a central axis, a,

for the' cylinder A and choppingblock B to revolve around. This spider is furnished with bearings to receive friction-wheels G, upon which the chopping cylinder and block rest, as shown. The basering, on its inner circumference, is constructed with three inclined projections, b, set at equal distances apart, upon which the arms of the spider rest, and glide up and down when the chopping block and cylinder are raised and lowered, to bring the block nearer to or move it farther fromthe,

oblong slots j and bolts dated August 11,1874; application filed edges of the knives. To eftectthis adjustment I employ an inclined screw-threaded rod, c, one end of said` rod being fastened to the outer end of' an arm of the spider, and the-other elevated and passed down through an open slot-ted lug, d, cast on the upper inner edge ot' the base-ring. On this end of the rod a nut, c, is fitted and screwed up against the lug. It will be evident that by screwing up the nut c the spider will be caused to rise up on the in'- clined planes of the projections b, and in thus rising the cylinder A and block A1 will be elevated, and by unscrewing the nut and pressing down the spider the cylinder and block will be lowered. By this construction an equal adjustment on three sides of the center can be eiiected, and there' is no liability of tilting, as when more than three yarmsare used. The inclined screw-rod with nut affords a very simple and convenient means for affecting the adjustment. I

It is very desirable to adjust thelblock and cylinder at a proper distance from the knives, both in the first use of the machine and after the block has been worn away by long use.

The next improvement to be described is the circular guard D fastened to the frame' F of the machine, in relief from the inner circumference of the cylinder A, and-applied lto extend down a short distance below-the upper edge of said cylinder. This guard I construct with a bead, f, on its upper back' edge, and this bead is placed between pieces -g g', and I confine the whole to lugs h'ot' the frame by clamp-screws i, the cylinder to be raised and lowered, and still serves to prevent the meat flying out at the back of the cylinder as the knives are raised and lowered.

The next improvement is the -device by which the Shanks E, ot' the knives El, are attached to the wooden handles E2, for the purpose of permitting an rip-and-down adjustment of the knives. This device consists of jl, on the ends of which are nuts j?. The bolts pass through the wooden handles and metal shanks, and the nuts are screwedupon the ends of the bolts `soas to unite the Shanks ot' the knives drmly as shown. The guard permits Y and then, by again tightening the nuts, firmly secured in position.

Another improvement relating to the knives consists in constructing a metal hanger on the' `upper ends of the handles E2. This hanger is composed of two plates'or jaws, c,'bored out as at 7c. to fit the circular parts of the crankshaft F2, and form a box or bearing for the same to turn in. These plates are confined upon the upper ends of the handles by means of two clamp-bolts, l, and nuts Z. By setting up the nuts the platescan be made to iit closer around the crank shaft, and thus any wear that occurs is provided for.

In practice, the plates and handles may be so shaped onvthose parts where they unite that a bearing will only take place at the vvpoint z; andthus,lwhen the nuts are set up,

theplates will react like springs, and keep -themfrom getting loose, the same as in my aapplication for a patent filed inthe Patent Olice on the 27th day of December, 1873.

Another improvement is in the frame or standards thereof, and the crossbar uniting the saine at the top,`above ythe crank shaft F2. These' standards are terminated with oblique or inclined portions m2, which extend back some distance, and are connected by a cross-bar, mwhose -upper surface is on a plane with the upper sides of the inclined iortions m2 as shown.

Byv this construction a rest is afforded by thebar for the knives when they are thrown up and back out of operation.

Another improvement is the construction of the bars G, by which the knives are oscillated and made to produce a drawing cut,` in connection Awith intermediate supportsv or lugs G, to which they are hung, whereby these bars are sustained on two sides, and the knives steadied and supported more perfectly. -Each bar is forked at its back and front end, as shown at n n', and thus, while while its front end takes holdv of both sides of the knife handle, its rear end spreads out wide, and has a bearing on two sides against lugsG, as shown; and'invthis connection I have provided for fasteningV all the lrods to the lugs of the bar A2 of the frame by means' of a single pin,vo,lwhich pin can be drawn out at will for the purpose of detaching all the bars from the crossbar of the frame.

And further, I have ilnprovedthe mechanism lforfturning the cylinder and block by making a circle of Vshaped teeth, p, onthe lower end of the cylinder, and `employing a pinon, q,with teeth` of similar form, to work into the said circle of teeth. `This pinion is"v vpose described.

placed on Vthe worm-wheelshaft K, which has its lower end stepped ina spring sliding stepblock, r, as shown.

The spring step-block presses the lower end of the shaft K toward the cylinder A, and this action insures the gearing contact of the pinion with the circle of teeth p, and therotation of the cylinder and chopping block when the machine is in motion. This feature of my invention saves a considerable expense,

as nice 'tting of the gearing is not necessary.

And, finally, in order to secureall the advantages of the central projection Ii, (shown in Amy aforesaid patent and at thesame time provide a neat and convenient means for oiling the bearing or central pin of the spider, I'have made this central projection hollow, as at r, and provided itjwith a set'screwor screw-cap, S.

I=By removing the screw the nose ofthe oilcan canbe introduced, and oil fpouredfinto the-chamber of the projection, and-'thisi oil will ndits way downupon the vpinf'of the spider.

-The operation of the machine' is very plain.

APower being applied to the crank-shaft by means of the handles M, the large spur-wheel N on the `worm-shaft O sets in 'i motion the pinion P ofthe crank-shaft, and this pinion turns the crank-shaft, and causes it toreciprocate the knives. At the same-tilnethat a fast motion is imparted to the knivesa slow motion is imparted to the worm-wheel shaft K by means of the wormOl, gearing into the worm-wheel O2, and this slow motion istransmitted to the cylinder and block by means of the pinion q on the worm-wheel shaft gearing with the teeth of the cylinder. As the knives move up and down they arecaused to oscillate, as illustrated inFig. 3, by means of the bars G pivoted to their lower ends; and, by the revolving motion of the cylinder-and block, the meat chopped at each` stroke is moved to a position which will insureia re-cuttin'g of it when the knives again descend.

What I claim as my.invention,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The oblique backward extensions-m2 on the upper ends of the standards, in combination with the cross-barwhich serves as a restfor the knives whenv thrownup, substantially as set forth.

screw or cap, in combination with the pin of the spider, substantially as and for the pur- DANIEL PETERS.

Witnesses: i

" J. A. SMYTH, 4

THOMAS HEDGE, J r. 

